📚Deadlocked by Dawn has been in my review pile for several months. I have finally gotten around to picking it up. As this is a new to me author I did not know what to expect. However, as the genre is a favourite of mine, I jumped into the story with boundless enthusiasm.
Title: Deadlocked by Dawn
Paradise in the Florida Keys… I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
Author(s): Afton Locke
Published by Self-published on February 27, 2021
Pages: 197
Genre(s): Romantic Suspense
Source: Author
Format: eBook
Purchase: Amazon
Rating:
Heat Level:
After 2020, Delia Sloane struggles to keep Rainbow Falls Resort afloat while grieving the loss of her father and husband. She refuses to let her Key Largo slice of paradise—a haven for non-mainstream couples—die. But when a serial killer begins attacking her guests—leaving a single dreadlock on each victim—everything spins out of control, including what’s left of her family.
Hides a killer…
After her brother’s experience with police brutality, the last place she wants to turn to for help is law enforcement. Scarred mentally by a deadly force incident, Detective Will Peterson has avoided homicide cases. But only he has the skills to drill into the elusive killer’s twisted mind.
And it just got personal…
When a hurricane strikes, exposing the horrible truth behind Delia’s losses and threatening everything she holds dear, trusting Will may be her only hope. Are they up to the challenge?
Set in the Florida Keys, 📚Deadlocked by Dawn was a quick and easy read. It may not have been perfect, but it served its intended purpose. Which was to provide a temporary escape from reality.
The story begins on an interesting note. This had me looking forward to an interesting mystery and hopefully some twists to make things interesting. Unfortunately, the expected twists did not make an appearance. Added to that, I spotted the killer from early into the story. As for the motive, that was as clear as the early morning sunrise. So no surprises there. The thing that piqued my curiosity is learning the extent the villain would have gone to get their revenge.
The romance failed to wow me. I am aware it’s the norm with this genre for the romance to take a back seat, but I expect it to be authentic. The story hinted at their chemistry, but I never felt it.
Detective Will Peterson was assigned to the case. He didn’t welcome the job because of an incident from his past. An incident which ended on a tragic note. However, when he met Delia, he felt compelled to solve the case despite his feelings of inadequacies. I empathized with him, and a few times, I just wanted to comfort him and offer him my support.
Now Delia, on the other grated on my nerves with her judgmental attitude. I understand her lack of trust in the police because of past experience, but her rush to judgment of Will was unfair. There was a time it appeared she was about to do something underhanded where Will was concerned. I prepared myself to like her even less as a result, but she redeemed herself.
During the investigations, Will discovered these killings had links to a cold case and a most recent murder case. The solving of the current killings revealed the identity of the perpetrators in the both cases. However, in relation to the most recent case, no steps to bring these persons to justice.
Overall, I found 📚Deadlocked by Dawn to be an interesting tale of obsession and revenge.
Story Evaluation
Plot
Characters
World Building
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Cover
Enjoyment
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Sorry it fell short but you at least got some pleasure out of it.
Yep, its one of those things.
Love the setting and sometimes a little escape is what we need.
So true. Sometimes escape can be good thing.
I like the romantic suspense genre and Deadlocked by Dawn sounds like it has some good elements. Shame it didn’t quite hit the spot for others.
Yes, it had some good elements, but it was overshadowed by the bad.
Ah man, too bad it didn’t quite sparkle and was somewhat predictable. Judgmental characters can grate on me, too. So, I’m glad the hero cop gave you someone to root for. The setting and the cold case connection would definitely interest me. Yay for getting a dusty one off your reading shelf.
The hero and setting were awesome.
I appreciate your honest reviews. This one is a hard pass for me.
This one is a pass for me, I appreciate your honest reviews – you saved me time and annoyance.
Thanks. Glad I could help.
Sometimes an escape from reality is all you need. Sorry that this one had a few issues but I am glad you were able to find some enjoyment in it.
Yes, it did some good points.
Good you still enjoyed it even if it wasn’t perfect. Great review.